The Universal Stages of Evolution

All entities are able to exist in the physical world for one simple reason: they have learned how to manage their internal stability and external equilibrium in the framework conditions that define their existence.

When abnormal changes take place in their framework conditions, entities must learn to adapt or they or they will cease to exist. This applies to atoms, cells, creatures, human beings, and all their group structures—molecules, organisms, organisations, communities, and nations. The purpose of adaptation is to maintain (survive) or enhance (thrive) the internal stability and external equilibrium of the entity and its group structures.

Throughout evolution all entities (atoms, cells and human beings) and their group structures (molecules, organisms, organisations, tribes, communities and nations) have learned to adapt and evolve in three stages:

First, individual entities learn how to become viable and independent in their normal framework conditions.

Second, as an individual entity’s framework conditions change—become more complex and threatening—the entity learns how to increase its resilience by bonding with other compatible entities to form a more stable group structure.

Then, as a group structure’s framework conditions change—become even more complex and threatening—individual entities in the group structure learn how to increase their collective resilience by cooperating with other similar and compatible group structures to form a more complex higher order entity.

As far as humans are concerned, learning how to become viable and independent in your framework of existence corresponds to the mastery of the first three levels of human development. This is called personal mastery.

Learning how to bond your ego motivations with your soul motivations corresponds to the mastery of the fourth and fifth levels of human development. This is called internal cohesion.

Learning how to deepen your connection to your soul motivations and cooperate with other people, thereby leveraging your ability to fulfil your purpose and find personal fulfilment, corresponds to the sixth and seventh levels of human development. This is called external cohesion.

The following table shows how the three universal stages of evolution and the seven stages of human development intersect (Click on table to enlarge).

What is attention grabbing about the universal process of evolution is that it has been the most successful strategy for surviving and thriving over a time span of billions of years. It is both the pathway to resilience, and the pathway to performance. It is the how the most successful entities on the planet have always managed their evolution and growth.

With this understanding, it was obvious to me that this universal process of evolution had direct implications for the evolution of human consciousness, and the evolution of organisations, nations, as well as the structure and content of leadership development programmes. This process, correctly understood and applied, could significantly increase the pool of full spectrum leaders available to the world.